At the Quo Vadis International Film Festival, people do not only watch films, but also discuss ideas, trends, interpretations. At the second edition of the Festival, one of the participants stated that he does not like Romanian films, he finds them boring, the acting does not convince him and he cannot relate to the story at all, even though both the setting and the language are familiar to the audience. However, the same person declared that he was willing to give the film The Ladder, directed by Vlad Păunescu, which was about to be screened, a chance.
We all enter the hall, take our seats and prepare for the screening, trying to watch the film with an open mind and without making projections about it as happened at the beginning.
Little by little we allow ourselves to be carried away by the film, the main actor seems not to be playing a role, but to actually be the character, while the rest of the cast comes to perfectly complete this picture. Throughout the film, several scenes recreate the universe of the novel The Brothers Karamazov and Andrei (the central character of the film) plays both Alyosha and the Devil showing us that within us there is not only light or only darkness. In addition, we relive essential moments of recent history, the years before 1989, the revolution and the violent episodes of the Mineriad. All of this through the eyes of simple people whose lines perfectly capture realities that for those who know, even superficially, the history of that period, have a particular meaning. And everything is doubled by a very well constructed setting, one example being the St. Friday Church, which appears silent when Andrei sits at the table and which will later be demolished by order of Nicolae Ceaușescu, a detail with strong symbolic value for that era.
Andrei’s story is inspired by the story of the actor Dragoș Pâslaru, who is now the abbot of the St. Martyr Filimon Monastery in Vâlcea, a fact that gives the film a particular dimension. The film ends, the credits with the cast and the production team also pass, but then something completely unusual happens. No one moves, we all breathe at the same rhythm and we are all pierced by the same emotion and when the lights finally turn on, each person tries to discreetly wipe the tears from the corner of their eyes.
In no way was this film boring as some expected a Romanian film to be. It managed to take a part of our history and bring it to the audience in such a way that we feel as if we had been there ourselves, step by step.
This type of films you will see if you also come to the third edition of the Quo Vadis Film Festival, which will take place between 10-14 November 2026 in Iași.
We are preparing a selection of foreign films, Romanian films, exhibitions and conferences. All designed especially to challenge us, to step out of our comfort zone and at the same time to enjoy the shared experience of film. We are waiting for you at the festival!
